Clause 3
Sustainable Communities Bill
3:30 pm
Oliver Letwin (West Dorset, Conservative)
I absolutely agree with the hon. Gentleman, which is surprising because we are hardly at the same point in the political spectrum. I would go so far as to say that, if we can get our proposals to work in urban areas, we will begin to knit together communities that are fractured, and the social gains, measured in terms of social responsibility and the connectedness of the community, will be greater than those that we could possibly achieve in a rural area that is already relatively well connected.
Participation matters even more. On a point made in an earlier intervention, paradoxically, it is necessary to specify—we must ensure that people from every part of a community are participating and involved. We cannot simply say that a local authority should go out and consult and not worry about how that will be done. It matters that we use the Bill as a vehicle for what we want to achieve.